


The Imperfect Mirror

by ThaFost



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Glee
Genre: Gen, M/M, but there's enough that I'm tagging it, circa season 2, everythings offscreen, let it be known I wrote it before the glee writers got to On My Way, sorry to be a killjoy, there's some jokes looking back it's like ohhhh nooooo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:48:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23731861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThaFost/pseuds/ThaFost
Summary: Dave meets someone who understands his struggle, but it's a little complicated. Crossover. (Importing from  ff.net - written S2, Early S3, 2011. Wow does that feel weird to type. No updates, just combined chapters.)
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel, Kurt Hummel/David Karofsky
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	The Imperfect Mirror

Dave's not sure what's going on the first time he sees the boy. It's just a glimpse of him in the hallways, and he passes around a corner before Dave can follow him, and by the time he makes it to the corner, there's no sign of the other boy.

The second time Dave thinks of that Star Trek episode where they see alternate versions of themselves. He tries to follow him, but this time Dave loses the other boy halfway through the cafeteria. Something about the guy's jacket irks Dave, as if there is something distinctly wrong about it.

A blazing 'S' on his chest is the giveaway Dave decides the third time, chasing him across the gym floor into the locker room. Once again there is no sign of him when Dave enters. However, the next day when Dave stows his things, the boy comes to him instead.

"Hi, I'm Larry," he says warmly, extending a hand. Karofsky snorts derisively.

"What kind of idiot names his kid Larry?" Dave asks shoving more crap into his overfull locker.

"One did oh, 30 years ago?" Larry says calculating it out. Dave's eyes bug out.

"You're thirty? Are you some kind of pedo?"

"You really should have tried the hand shake numbskull." Larry states. He slaps Dave, only for his hand to pass through Dave's face. "I've been dead for a lot of those years."

"Why are you here?" Dave asks. Why was a ghost haunting him?

"The Powers That Be sent me to make sure you graduate without dying or killing anyone. In a sleepy town like this, it shouldn't be that tough." Larry explained.

"Why you?"

"Because I know your struggle and because I died at graduation." Dave opened his mouth to ask another question but was cut off by Larry holding up a hand. "Someone's coming. See you around Dave." He blinked, and Larry was gone.

Dave was seriously concerned. A ghost? Was he going crazy, or was there really a ghost looking out for him now? After had gotten home, and locked his door to his room, Larry came out again. Larry looked around the room, at the posters taped up on the walls. Several hockey teams were plastered on the walls. "Well, at least it's not bikini chicks, but I think you had some questions for me." Larry says appearing to sit on Dave's bed.

"How did you die? What do you mean you know my struggle?" Dave asks. "Where are you from? Why—" Larry holds his hand up to slow the questions down.

"I died at graduation defending everyone from the mayor who had decided to become a demon." Larry shushed a disruptive Dave. "Still my turn. I'm gay Dave. I was a bully, and when one of the kids I trashed confronted me in the locker room, I caved. I let it out to Xa—him, and he didn't make fun of me. So I told I everyone. I was so out, my Grandma Betty was setting me up with guys. As for where I was from, there was this little place called Sunnydale, California. It collapsed, going on eight years back? Turned into a crater. So you've got some out of me, do you have anything to get off your chest? I'm not going to judge you, just listen."

So Dave told him everything. The first time he saw Hummel. The first time he had one of _those_ dreams about him. Then the name calling, the locker shoves, and… the 'incident'. He couldn't get himself to say what had happened there. "Dave, I'm dead. Who am I going to tell?" Larry asked. With those words, Dave felt his walls crumble.

"He was so beautiful, and so angry with me. We both said things that were unkind, but he wouldn't go away. He kept shouting in my face and I – kissed him, and it felt like heaven. I stopped, just to see what he looked like, and he was so confused. So I leaned back in, but he shoved me! It hurt so badly, and I could feel myself tearing up. I had to get out of there so he wouldn't see me crying. I left, and found the astronomy room. No one's in there except for hookups, so I just let it out. I was going to never mention it again, but that idiot, and his new best buddy tried outing me in the staircase. I… threatened him, and he eventually transferred schools."

"You know Dave, you really stepped in it." Larry told him.

Dave knew it was true.

\--

It felt nice having someone to talk to, Dave decided. A sympathetic person, who wasn't going to mention the… _kiss_ in the middle of the hallway. Larry wanted Dave to be a strong confident person, one that could be proud of being gay, someday.

After his not-date with Santanna, Larry wasn't very pleased with the arrangements, but didn't argue either. "I just think you're taking three steps back with your 'girlfriend' is all." Larry told him.

"But now I've got a reason to be less of a jerkhole and still keep my friends. Maybe." Dave replied.

"Azimio still giving you crap for the whole Bully Whips situation?" Larry asked, his face not revealing his thoughts.

"He's cut back a little bit, but you know how it can be with jocks," Dave said sadly. Larry nodded and patted Dave's knee. He'd been practicing actually interacting corporeally with things, and was getting quite good at it. It started with little things, like pencils or erasers scooting across Dave's desk. Then there were the much appreciated head scratches for the cat, and now reassuring pats on the knee, or a hug, if Larry thought Dave would be interested or open to one. But for now, Larry didn't want to push his overseer boundaries.

Dave got busy with his prom preparations. Why his 'girlfriend' picked out a dress less than a week before prom, he'll never know. He does know one thing for sure, and that is Friday will be even better than prom. Friday is the day he gets to walk Kurt to all of his classes.

Friday comes and everything goes extremely well, until Kurt's French class. Outside the classroom, he starts talking about how no one is bothering him for being gay. Dave's a little uncomfortable talking about this here, but he's sure the students inside aren't listening. Kurt's talking about he notices Dave's in pain, and he loses it. The tears are winning the battle against his calm, and before he realizes it, Kurt's a blurry picture in front of him, which makes apologizing a little easier, but he still can't meet his eyes. Their color confuses him, because every time he looks at Kurt, they look different. Kurt kind of accepts his apology, and Dave steels himself up for calc, and he can't look like he's been crying in there, because crying is for… scared little boys, like Dave.

After calc class, Kurt's waiting for him there, but so is Azimio. The three of them walk in awkward silence to the cafeteria. Azimio and Dave sit at a table next to Kurt, giving him enough distance to talk comfortably with his friends, but close enough to stop anything before it starts to turn into something bad. Lunch passes quietly, just like the rest of Friday.

Saturday arrived, and Dave was nervous. He wasn't sure why, as it's not like he was trying to impress Santanna. His father had grumbled about the price of renting a tuxedo last minute, but Dave explained that it wasn't his fault Santanna didn't pick her dress or at least color until Tuesday. Then again, the monkey suit was proving to be difficult, or rather the tie was.

"No, no, no," came a familiar voice. Larry stood behind Dave and straightened out the tie, before tying it himself. "Like this. Unless you wanted to accidently choke yourself," Larry told him. It felt odd for the hands that weren't quite hands to be tying that knot.

"If I wanted to choke myself, then it wouldn't have been accidental. Also, I'd already be in the tux, so burial would be a snap." Dave joked. He saw a hurt look flash through Larry's face in the mirror. His hands tilled on the tie, and like so many times before, he blinked out of being. "Larry? Oh god, Larry! I didn't mean that. I'm such an idiot!" Dave kicked his dresser, and regretted it as he felt the pain bloom, in his toes. He had to go get Santanna for prom, or everyone would know, but he had to make it up to Larry somehow.

Dave was kind of excited. He'd just won Prom King, and that meant Santanna would be happy. Except, no, Figgins had just announced Kurt as Prom Queen. The student body had just elected his crush to be his queen, and sadly Kurt was upset about it. The look on Kurt's face burned. If that peacock hadn't gone after him, Dave had half a mind to go out there himself. He was a Bully whip after all. Instead he sat upon his plush throne, and he had time to think about the implications. Was this about Kurt? Did they know Dave was gay too? Had they seen what had happened outside of French on Friday? Suddenly Kurt was back. He accepted his crown, and was quick with a joke, and for a moment Dave's heart soars. They're supposed to dance. It's tradition, and no one can blame him for dancing with Kurt, because he has to, but then Kurt wants him to come out, and that's not going to happen tonight.

This isn't the moment, and that song? There's no way he's dancing to Dancing Queen. So he runs, just like the locker room, like from the stairway, or from the shoving battle. It seems he's found another thing he's good at, running away from his feelings. As he runs through the hallways, he loses the scepter somewhere, and his feet take him to the French classroom. He's not sure why he stands there, but after he stops running, the tears overtake him, and he stands crying silently in the doorway until Santanna finds him at the end of the prom, and takes him home.

\--

Dave had enough sense to take off the monkey suit before crawling into bed. His Father had asked about Dave's night, but was met by a wall of silence. Paul noted the crown perched atop Dave's head, and knew something was off. Something more than his sudden girlfriend or his sudden return to Dave-ness. Paul just wasn't sure what he could do about it.

Dave's dreams were horrible. It was the same scenario, starting off with Kurt trying to get him to come out on the dance floor. If he did come out, the crowd screamed. Even Hudson, who had wanted him in Glee, screamed at him. That he was wrong, and that he needed to leave. That Dave could live with, but then the laughing began, Kurt and his polished prince, laughing at him. How could he ever pretend to be as wonderful as them? He would never be the type of man Kurt wants.

Then it would begin again. Dave tried everything, tried just to dance quietly with Kurt, he tried giving his crown to Blaine, he tried _everything_. In the end, the only thing he could do, was run again, and in doing so, he awoke.

It was early still, and his room was dark, but there was a glimmer of early morning sunlight drifting through his window. The light wasn't much, but it was enough to see the crown on his dresser, and enough to see Larry pacing by his door. It was nice to see him again, even if by the look on his face, he was still upset. "Hey," he whispered. Larry stopped pacing, and turned to face Dave. "I'm sorry about my jokes. I know how hard you're trying to keep me alive." Larry shook his head.

"It's not that. When I died, I was at graduation. The mayor had turned into a giant snake demon. The students all fought back, and I was one of the casualties. Later they killed the mayor by blowing up the school. My body was still in the courtyard. My parents go to bury part of me, which given the track record at that school, was still pretty lucky. I'm just still a little touchy about it I guess." Larry gestured towards the crown. "I see you won King. Congratulations are in order for you and your girlfriend then."

Dave flinched and took a breath to steady himself. "Santanna didn't win Prom Queen," he paused thinking of the right words to say. "The kids, they were idiots. Instead of voting for an Anti-Prom King, they voted for a not prom queen. They elected Kurt. He was so hurt, and he bolted, but then him and Mr. Perfect came back, and he took his crown. We were supposed to dance, but he wanted me to come out. I couldn't Lar. I'm not ready yet. He friggen' told me he wouldn't ask me to come out tomorrow, and then he did. If I didn't lo… like him so much, this wouldn't hurt like this. I just wish my brain didn't turn off around him. Kurt's always think that there's more than one way up, or that every direction is north. My brain keeps turning circles around him, but my mouth goes in triangles. They're two separate paths, but they really shouldn't be." Dave stopped hurting the pillow in his hand and sat up. He looked up at Larry across the room, and his face was on that Dave knew as pained.

"So, you love him?"

"I hope not. If I could do all those things, and say all of those words to someone I love, then I hope never to love anyone."

Paul Karofsky wasn't a creepy father. He reassured himself that after doing some investigation into David's new habits. David spent a lot of time in his room. From what Paul could hear, it was a lot of time talking in his room. He'd tried listening on the home phone, but David wasn't using that. One time during one of his talks, Paul heard David's cell phone ring. Now it was 6 in the morning, on a Sunday no less, and he could hear the low murmurs that meant he was talking to someone. Paul sat up, and grabbed his robe. It was time to see who was so important in his son's life.

Larry sat down on the edge of Dave's bed. "Love isn't all sunshine and rainbows Dave. There's pain, hurt, and sometimes it comes from within the couple. You might hurt them, they might hurt you. But love can also bring you happiness, and those are the moments you-" The door swung open.

"David who are you…" Paul stopped halfway into the room, lingering with a foot still in the hallway. "Hello." Larry blinked his eyes. He looked between the two Karofsky men. His loyalty was to Dave, but he should have been alerted by The Powers about Paul interrupting this talk. Paul seemed confused. It was six in the morning, Dave was in bed, and a young man he'd never seen before was sitting on it. "Did I… Er, should I go?"

Dave sat numbly in his bed. He could out, right now. He looked to Larry, who sat calmly on the corner of his bed. Larry put his hand reassuringly on Dave's leg. Turning back to his father, he swallowed thickly. It was suddenly hard to speak, and his face was getting warm. "Dad? There's some things we need to talk about. I need… I need you to listen. He paused, his eyes to the crown glinting in the sunlight. "Tonight I ran from prom. I won Prom King, but Santanna didn't win queen. Neither did any of the girls who wanted to be queen. Heck, none of the girls from school won Prom Queen." Paul was confused at what this had to do with the hands-on stranger on his son's bed, but he didn't interrupt his son while he was thinking. "Kurt Hummel won Prom Queen, and I couldn't dance with him, so I ran away. All of those people, I couldn't do that with him in front of them. I just couldn't do what he wanted. I couldn't come out. Dad, I'm gay, and they don't even know they elected two gay boys, they just wanted to hurt him. He asked me to come out, and I ran. Like I've always done, from him, from when I kissed him. That's right, I kissed him, and for one glorious moment, everything was wonderful, and I could just pretend. That he understood me, and that I could be with him, but he pushed me away, and so I ran from that. I didn't bully because he was gay, I bullied because I thought it would make these feelings go away."

Paul stood quietly in the doorway. He had seen the signs of course, he knew this was entirely plausible, but it was still quite a shock. His little cub scout was… gay. In today's society, that would be a difficulty, but at this moment in time, he would cherish his son, but who was the stranger? His eyes flicked towards the stranger, who looked strangely out of place, with the light coming in behind him. His colors seemed strained, and he looked fuzzy around the edges, like a VHS played one too many times. Paul prayed that no funny business had gone down the night before, as he was sure David didn't have the necessary supplies in his room. "I love you David. Right now? I think I need to make pancakes." Paul stepped out of the room and tugged on the door, as it was closing he followed up with, "Then you can explain your man."  
\--

Breakfast was an awkward affair. Dave and paul chewed quietly, while Larry sat gazing longingly at the pancakes had set in front of hm. He moved the for in his hand contemplating the results of any attempted eating. Breaking his reverie, Paul told him, "They're not poisoned you know." Dave quelled his urge to laugh by shoving another bite of pancake into his mouth.

"I'm sure your pancakes are quite delicious sir, but I am in no state to eat right now," Larry told him wryly. He set the fork down again, and let it tap the plate with a satisfying _cling_. "I think I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, you need to be worrying about your son." Dave looked confused, and Larry noticed the same expression on his father's face, making the two look more alike. "I'm not going to get worse than I am, that's pretty impossible for a dead guy."

"Surely there's something-"

"No, you misunderstand me. I'm dead. A ghost. I've been buried longer than Davey's been riding a bike... well maybe." Larry told him, the humor fading from his voice. "I'm here to keep an eye on Davey. To see him get his cap and gown, and all that good stuff."

"Was it...? Was it because you were _gay_?"

"Oh god no. He just wanted to kill everyone at graduation... It was a very complicated school." Larry paused. He didn't think that Paul needed to hear the nature of the murderous being this morning.

Dave finished up the pancakes on his plate. He reached across the table to take Larry's plate, but a warm hand on his arm stopped his movement. "David? I'd like to talk to you about what you said earlier in your room. You… kissed Kurt Hummel?" Dave ducked his head slightly embarrassed. He drew the arm back to his body protectively. "When was this?"

Dave thought back to that moment in time. Sure, he could tell his father, down to the minute that happened, but that probably would be more information than his father wanted to hear.

"A few weeks prior to the first meeting in the principal's office. That was why I had threatened his life. Not that I could have done that. _Not to him_." The last sentence he spoke in a whisper. "He kept my secret for me, even though I didn't deserve anything from him. He may not be the easiest guy to be around, but he's pretty awesome in my book." Kurt could be a bit snobbish at times, especially with all of his cutesy things that Dave _must_ know if he's going to be gay. Paul nodded quietly to himself, and squeezed Dave's shoulder.

"Is he dating anyone?"

" _Daaaad._ I don't think I'm ready for a relationship, and if I was, he is taken anyway." Dave said, a note of sadness in his voice. The table plunged back into their silent chewing, and Larry felt a bit out of place here. The happy family breakfast, and here he was, not even breathing. Was this his mission? Helping Dave and his father patching up together, and then leaving them to sort it out, because this felt like the end of Dave's need for him. Looking at his hands, he noticed the edges of his fingers were becoming blurrier than normal, and he didn't like that. "Larr? Is there something wrong?" Larry snapped his eyes up to Dave's searching hazel ones.

"I'm fading Davey. I think I'm done here." Larry explained. Dave looked hurt, but nodded slowly. "I don't want to go, it's just I think The Powers That Be, think I should go."

"Well screw the powers! Can't you just _stay_? I finally have someone who _knows_ me. Not the jock exterior, not the closeted idiot, but _me_. I need someone who isn't trying to make me some bigoted idiot, or reshape me into a choir singing, prancing, pretty boy. I'm not that, I'm just Dave, and you get that. You _lived_ that." Dave pleaded with Larry, but he was still fading fast. His entire right arm was missing now.

"It's not my call Davey, I've got to go. I'm sorry. If they let me, I'll be back. Tell you what, if I can swing it, I'll have a surprise for you. I've got to go play Fairy Godfather to someone else now." Larry stood up from the table, and walked to the door. "It was nice meeting you Mr. Karofsky, I wish the situation was a little less stressful. Goodbye for now." It was hard for Dave to tell if Larry walked out of the door, or if he had just faded enough not to be seen, either way he knew that he was gone, and so was a chunk of his heart.

It wasn't until July he remembered that Larry had mentioned a surprise. A package had shown up on his doorstep, sent from a Mrs. Blaisdell. It was a hefty box, and Dave wasn't entirely sure what could be inside it. Taking it carefully to his room, he shut the door, not wanting to be disturbed. He opened the box, and took out a note on the top. _Larry visited me, and that was a bit frightening. He told me you might want some keepsakes, and as I have felt more grief, than joy with some of the mementos, I think you should have them. I also made copies of some pictures. I don't know who you are to him, but I hope you know how truly special you are to have been friends with my dear son._ Intrigued, he took the bubble wrap off an oddly shaped object, revealing the very letterman jacket he had seen Larry in. Or at least the one Larry had mimicked as a ghost. There was a wooden stake in the box, and a small album of photos on the bottom. The photos were of a small happy child, growing up through the ages, and then a scowling teenager. Near the end, he was smiling again, happy with himself. One picture made Dave's heart clench. A single photo at the end, Larry wearing his robe for graduation in front of the school.


End file.
